Tag Archives: Asus

ASUS has started rolling out a new software update for the Transformer Pad Infinity that includes a bunch of bug-fixes. Before you start jumping with excitement, no, the update does not bring either Android 4.1.2 or Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Anyways, the update fixes some really serious bugs which have been plaguing Infinity owners since quite sometime.

When ASUS announced the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10, it also dropped the price of the 16GB Nexus 7 to $199 and introduced a new 32GB variant of the tablet for $249. Nexus 7 owners who got the tablet recently must have felt pretty cheated by this move from Google. There are only a few things in life worse than seeing a device that you recently purchased, get a hefty price cut.

Thankfully, ASUS has announced that Nexus 7 owners will get a free ₤25 coupon via which they can purchase anything from the ASUS Shop online store. The offer is only valid for Nexus 7 tablets purchased by October 29th from either retail stores or from an online website. ASUS does not state as to which variants of the tablet are eligible for the offer or the purchasing date. Anyways, head over to this website if you live in Europe or the U.K to register for the offer.

For Nexus 7 owners who got their tablet directly from Google’s Play Store, things are even better. The Play Store actually has a Price Protection policy, which states that if Google reduces the price of a device on Google Play, it will actually refund the difference in price to the user. The Policy, however, is only valid for devices purchased within 15 days since the price reduction took place. Also, users will need to apply for the price protection policy within 15 days of the price reduction taking place.

This means that if you purchased a Nexus 7 from Google’s Play Store on or after October 14th, you are currently eligible for a refund from Google. Head over to this page to register for the policy and get your money back!

After months of speculation and rumors, it looks like ASUS and Google are finally bringing the Nexus 7 to India. Croma, a popular electronics megastore in India from Tata, listed the Nexus 7 on its website for sale just a few moments ago with a shipping time of 7 working days.

Sadly, the tablet won’t be coming with its tempting price of $199 or roughly Rs 11,000 in the Indian market. Instead, the 16GB variant of the tablet will cost around Rs. 19,999, which is a bummer. At the moment, it is unclear whether ASUS and Google plan on launching the 8GB/32GB variant or even the 3G version of the tablet in India or not.

The Nexus 7 packs in a 7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×700, along with 1GB of RAM. The tablet runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, and is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Other specs of the tablet include NFC, Wi-Fi, a 1.2MP front-facing camera and Bluetooth.

Asus just reported its earnings for Q3 2012, and surprised everyone by posting its largest quarterly profit in the last four years, which is in contrast with the bleak numbers reported by its competitors in the PC industry.

Asus saw its numbers rise in part due to the excellent sales of the Nexus 7 tablet, which it built with Google. Asus’ market share in PCs also increased to 7.3% last quarter, with its shipments increasing 12%. Its competitors saw their market share shrink.

ASUS was going to unveil the Padfone 2 along with its other accessories at an event in Milan today. However, the company has already gone ahead and previewed the handset at its headquarter in Taiwan.

The Asus Padfone 2 packs in a 4.7-inch SuperIPS+ display with 720p resolution, 2GB of RAM, a Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core Krait processor clocked at 1.5GHz, and an Adreno 320GPU. There is a 1.2MP camera in the front coupled with a 13MP sensor at the back with a f/2.4 BSI, capable of recording videos in 1080p resolution or at 720p at 60FPS. All the other usual connectivity features are also present including NFC, along with a fixed internal battery of 2140mAh.

Sadly, the Padfone 2 will be running on stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich when launched, but ASUS has promised that it will update the device to Jelly Bean sooner than later.

The tablet dock of the Padfone 2 packs in a 10.1-inch IPS HD display, with an inbuilt battery of 5000mAh. The new dock is much sleeker and lighter, thanks to a reduction in battery capacity and the removal of the docking bay cover. ASUS has also gone ahead and replaced the old 40 pin connector on the Padfone 2 and its tablet dock with a smaller 13-pin connector.

The ASUS Padone 2, along with all its accessories, will be available in Taiwan as early a next week for NT$17,990 for the 16GB variant. The tablet dock costs NT$8,990 when purchased separately but the handset and the dock can be purchased in a bundle for only $NT6,000 extra over the phone’s retail price.

The Nexus 7 has been a runaway success for Google and ASUS. The $199/$249 price point of the tablet, Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and the killer specs of the tablet make it an irresistible deal. The Nexus 7 has managed to bring back Android as an OS back into the tablet market, and makes it look like a worthy (and cheaper) alternative to the iPad.

However, one major complain most Nexus 7 owners have is the low amount of storage space. Without a microSD card slot, Nexus 7 owners are only limited to the 8/16GB of on-board storage space, which is not enough to store all your movies and music. The lack of a 3G radio does not help matters much as well.

Now, it looks like Google will soon be releasing a 32GB variant of the Nexus 7. The 32GB variant of the tablet has shown up in quite a few inventory systems of online retailers and websites, thus confirming its impending launch. At the moment, it is unknown as to how much the 32GB variant of the tablet will cost. Some websites showed the retail price at around the $269-272, which if true will please a lot of people.

ASUS has announced via its Facebook page that it will soon start rolling out the Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean update for the Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700) and Transformer Pad Prime (TF201). How soon? Within the next 72 hours!

The company has also released a change-log of the update, which is as follows -:

The Jelly Bean update will bring with it improved system performance thanks to Project Butter, enhanced keyboard and Face Unlock, re-organised Settings menu, Google Now and updated Voice Actions and some minor UI tweaks.

ASUS definitely knows how to please its customers with constant software updates and timely OS upgrades. Companies like Samsung, Sony and HTC really need to take a lesson or two from ASUS in releasing timely updates.

From the specs, the ASUS Padfone 2 looks like its going to be a complete beast. The handset will be powered by a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Krait (APQ8064) SoC, an Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP snapper at the back with Zero Shutter lag aided by an LED flash, a 1.2MP front-facing camera, LTE, and a super bright IPS+ 4.7-inch display with 720p (1280×720) resolution. The other usual features like Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with A-GPS, MHL port and a microSD card slot are also present.

The Padfone 2 also manages to pack in a beefy 2140mAh battery inside its relatively slim 9mm waistline. The specs sheet of the Padfone 2 easily rivals the LG Optimus G and the Galaxy S III, and if ASUS manages to execute the phone-tablet-laptop idea perfectly this time, they might have a winner in their hands.

Motorola wowed the world when it announced the original Atrix back at CES 2011. The Atrix could be docked into a lapdock, to make the handset a full fledged laptop replacement. While the idea in itself is very interesting and sounds useful, it was letdown by poor execution from Motorola.

ASUS, which has redefined the tablet-cum-laptop category with its Transformer line-up of tablets, tried to take Motorola’s idea to the next level with its handset, the Padfone. The Padfone was like any other mid-range Android handset running stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and packed in decent specs – a 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3-inch Super-AMOLED display and oodles of storage space.

The handset, however, could be docked into a lapdock like accessory to become a full-fledged tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich. The lapdock like accessory could then again be docked to an external keyboard from ASUS, to become a full-fledged replacement to laptops.

Sadly, the Padfone and its other accessories met the same fate as the Motorola Atrix, and got lukewarn response from the market.

However, ASUS has just announced an event for 16th October where the company will be announcing the successor of the Padfone. The event will be held simultaneously in Taipei, Taiwan and Milan, Italy. Rumors indicate that the Padfone 2 will be sporting 2GB of RAM and a quad-core processor, along with LTE support.

If ASUS manages to price the Padfone 2 right along with its accessories, the company might just be successful with the phone-tablet-laptop replacement idea this time around.

When Google and ASUS unveiled the Nexus 7 at I/O earlier this year, both the companies were mum on the global availability of the tablet. With demand and supply somewhat stabilizing in the United States, Google and ASUS have finally turned their attention to other regions of the world.

Starting from today, ASUS and Google will start selling the Nexus 7 in France, Germany and Spain. The price point of the tablet remains the same at €199 Euros for the 8GB variant of the tablet, and €249 for the 16GB variant of the tablet. The tablet will be available for purchase directly from Google’s Play Store.

Google has been showing France and Germany quite a lot of love recently, first with the availability of Movies, then Books and now, the Nexus 7 itself.